SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – Dominican women's volleyball split a pair of matches Friday to open the D2 West Region Volleyball Showcase at the Conlan Center. The Penguins (2-1) fell 20-25, 25-19, 17-25, 25-22, 15-10 to Cal State LA in the first match of the day before defeating Alaska Fairbanks 21-25, 25-20, 30-28, 25-22 in the second match.
 
Match 1
 
Senior Kate Even led the way in the first match with 13 kills on a .520 hitting percentage to go with four blocks. Sophomore Josie Walser added 37 assists and eight digs for Dominican. Karla Santos led the Golden Eagles (5-0) with 20 kills and 12 digs.
 
After a tight start to the match, the Penguins capitalized on several CSULA errors during a 5-0 run to take an 8-6 lead. The set remained a close until Even and Johnson teamed up with two kills apiece to lead Dominican on a set ending 6-1 run.
 
Each team returned in set two with intensity, beginning with a back and forth dual. Santos took over midway to extend the Golden Eagles' lead to 13-8 with two of her three aces. The Penguins were unable to slow the CSULA down, falling 25-19.
 
Johnson and Even continued to provide a strong attack to lead Dominican on a 9-1 run to take a 7-point advantage. The Golden Eagles followed shortly with a run of their own, highlighted by kills from Santos and Labrie to cut Dominican's lead to two. However, the Penguins took advantage of several more errors from the CSULA to take a sizable lead and win the set 25-17.
 
The fourth set was another close battle, until the Golden Eagles scored three of the last four points of the match, taking the set, 25-22. Cal State Los Angeles opened the fifth and deciding set with a 5-0 lead, powered by three of Caitlyn Bato's four aces. Dominican continued to hang on with a kill by Josie Walser late in the set to help bring the Penguins within three of the Golden Eagles, but it was too late as they fell 15-10 in the fifth set.
 
Match 2
 
Senior Cat Thomason led the way for Dominican in the second match with 13 kills on a .302 hitting percentage to go with three blocks. Walser had another strong outing with 36 assists and eight digs. Lahra Weber led the Nanooks (2-3) with a double-double of 24 kills and 12 digs.
 
Weber led Alaska to a fast start with three kills during a 4-1 run to open the match. Weber put down another kill along with two aces to extend the lead to 11-4 as the Nanooks took total control of the first set. After trailing by as many as nine, the Penguins used a late 6-0 run to grab back some momentum in the match despite dropping the set 25-21.
 
The teams traded points to begin the second set until Brittania Chan and Kate Even combined for a block to go with two Alaska errors to extend Dominican's lead to 16-13. Cat Thomason ended another 3-0 burst for the Penguins with a kill as they took a 19-14 lead. The teams again traded points until Chan gave Dominican the 25-20 victory with a kill.
 
The Nanooks appeared to have all the momentum in the early part of the fourth set, taking a 5-0 lead behind two aces from Tatum Upchurch. Thomason answered for the Penguins with two kills and a block assist during a 5-point run over their own to tie the match at 6. Dominican then took advantage of several Alaska errors late in the set to take its first lead at 21-17. The Nanooks would not back down, as they slowly marched back into the set and tied it at 23-23 on a kill from Weber. The teams continued to trade points until a pair of Alaska errors gave the set to the Penguins, 30-28.
 
The fourth set continued the see-saw battle between the team until Markie Miller put down back-to-back kills to give the Nanooks a 15-12 lead. Dominican slowly marched its way back into the game and Catherine Johnson tied it at 18 with a kill. The Penguins again took advantage of late errors from Alaska to end the match on a 4-0 run for the 25-22 set victory.
 
Dominican takes the court again Saturday at the Conlan Center for the second day of the 2018 D2 West Region Volleyball Showcase. The Penguins will face California State University Monterey Bay, and Concordia University of Oregon at 1 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. PDT, respectively. Live stats and video will be available online.